Bone anchored hearing aids (Baha) are implantable bone conduction hearing systems. They are used for conductive or mixed hearing impairments and for unilateral deafness. Although traditional air-conduction and bone-conduction hearing aids are used for many people with satisfactory results, they may not always be effective. Bone anchored hearing aids (Baha) take the form of what is called direct bone conduction. This approach is different in many ways from traditional air-conduction and bone-conduction hearing aids. A tiny titanium implant is anchored in the bone behind the ear and then osseointegrates with the bones of the body. In simple terms, the implant and the bone form a single unit, in the same way as a dental implant. Osseointegration takes about three months to form in adults and six months in children. Once the osseointegration is formed, a bridge base can be fixed to the titanium implant and then the speech processor can be clamped to it. When the speech processor monitors the sound, it transmits the sound directly through the bone to the inner ear. This process bypasses the outer and middle ears. How a Bone Anchored Hearing Aid (Baha) works 1. Speech Processor: The processor outside the body receives sound through a microphone. 2. Acoustic vibrations: The vibrations caused by the sound are transmitted through the skull and jawbone to the inner ear. 3. Inner ear: This movement causes the fluid in the inner ear (cochlea) to push the hair cells. 4. Auditory nerve: The hair cells turn this movement into electrical impulses that travel along the auditory nerve all the way to the brain for processing, and you hear the sound. Bone Anchored Hearing Aid (Baha) for Single Sided Deafness (SSDTM) A bone anchored hearing aid is placed on the deaf side of the ear for a person who is unilaterally deaf. The bone anchored hearing aid picks up the sound and transmits it through the bone conduction to the cochlea where it normally works. As a result, the patient has a sense of the sound being heard on the side of the deaf ear. Bone anchored hearing aids offer unique benefits to people who are unilaterally deaf. They can hear sounds from both sides, whereas they could only hear one side. You can try them out before they are implanted and you will be amazed at how much better and clearer the sound quality can be, not only in terms of hearing. Indications for Baha Conductive hearing loss, mixed deafness, unilateral sensorineural deafness 1. chronic otitis media, otitis externa, congenital atresia, canal stenosis, auditory tuberosity, other middle ear diseases 2. unilateral sudden deafness, auditory neuroma, Meniere’s disease, etc.